


Weight of the World

by Olympic_Noodle



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Rafael has PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:33:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26020447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olympic_Noodle/pseuds/Olympic_Noodle
Summary: Rafael has been suffering since Hope changed him back into a human. Josie is observant and  is not one to let someone suffer alone, so she does what she can to take some of the pain away. (This fic is going to mention the different symptoms of ptsd.)
Relationships: Josie Saltzman/Rafael Waithe, Landon Kirby/Hope Mikaelson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Weight of the World

**Author's Note:**

> SO SORRY FOR THE FORMATTING ERROR!!!! It should be fixed now!!! This is the first fanfic I’ve ever actually thought about sharing with the world. Constructive criticism is welcome!

The Salvatore School was quiet, rightly so as it was nearing midnight and the students were meant to be asleep. The beginning of the year had already been as chaotic as the end of the previous year had been. Josie was used to all things supernatural; how could she not be, she was a witch after all. But recently, things had been weighing on her mind making sleep harder and harder to come by. That’s how she found herself wandering the halls of the school. She had tried everything to sleep but her racing mind had other plans. She didn’t want to wake Lizzie, so wandering the halls of the school she grew up in would have to do. She felt her heart skip a beat when she realized that her aimless wandering had led her to the one door she was trying to avoid. Landon and Rafael’s room. 

When the whole school had forgotten about Hope Mikaelson, Josie had found herself falling hard for Landon. Rafael had been stuck as a wolf for the whole summer, Josie and Landon spent time keeping him company. Towards the end of summer though, Rafael had pulled away from them, going off on his own. Then Hope returned and everything got so complicated. Josie lets out a small sigh, shaking her head. She turned to walk away when she heard a panicked yelp from inside. Her stomach flipped, she stood there, frozen. Unsure of what to do, she waited, thinking that it was just her sleep deprived brain playing a trick. The yelp came again, harsher this time, full of pain. Josie couldn’t just leave knowing that someone was hurting. She knocked gently on the door.

“Landon? Rafael?” The only answer was the panicked sounds from behind the door. “Is everything alright in there?” Worry creased her brow. What she heard next caused her to suck in a sharp breath.

“No! Somebody help me!” It was Rafael. Josie tried the doorknob; it was locked of course.

“Rafael, is everything alright?” she raised her voice a little as she knocked again. Nothing but the cries for help came from behind the door. That made up her mind for her. She lay her hand on the wall, siphoning some magic from the school.

“Dissera portus,” she whispered, holding her hands out towards the door. The door swung open and Josie’s heart broke. Landon’s bed was neatly made and empty, which was no surprise, he was probably with Hope. But that didn’t matter. Rafael’s bed, on the other hand, was a mess, the pillow was torn and so were some of the sheets. However, Rafael wasn’t in his bed either. The cries were coming from underneath his bed. She was frozen again. She didn’t know if her intrusion would help things or make it all worse. She knew how particular some of the wolves are about their rooms. Pushing her thoughts aside, she went quickly to his bedside, crouching to look underneath. She was met by wild yellow eyes and barred teeth. A low growl fell from his lips as his eyes darted around. In the moonlight she could see a layer of sweat coating Rafael’s body.

“Raf?” she started, unsure if he could even hear her. “Raf, did something happen?”

She was met by another growl, she leaned back on her heels trying to gather her thoughts. She should get someone, but she didn’t want to leave him there. She couldn’t leave knowing that he was terrified. Taking a deep breath, Josie thought back to what Hope told her about the spell that Emma did to calm Rafael down. She knew it would be risky but she had to do something. Josie leaned back towards Rafael, until he could see her again.

“Please don’t bite me,” she whispered, reaching her hand out gently. He flinched away but Josie scooted closer to him until her hand was on his chest. She could feel his heart racing under his sweat soaked shirt and how his chest heaved. He began to growl again, tensing up. She siphoned some magic from him for the next thing that she knew she had to do but he was growing restless.

“Tardus pulsatio.” she said, keeping her hand firmly over his heart. She could feel his heartbeat slowing, using her own heart rate as a measure, she waited to finish the spell until his heartbeat matched her own. “Corum spiritus.”

Rafael then gasped, taking a deep breath in, his eyes returning to normal. Relief flooded over Josie, she lifted her hand gently to pull it away. Rafael’s head whipped over to face her, eyes wide.

“Josie? What are you doing here?” he asked, moving to sit up, not at all realizing that he was under his bed. Josie’s hand darted back and pushed him down.

“Careful, Raf.” When he looked confused, she looked pointedly up at the bed frame. Rafael followed her gaze and swallowed hard. Knowing that he would want to get out from the confined area, Josie slid away from the edge of the bed, gesturing for him to follow. Slowly, but surely he crawled out from under the bed. By the time he looked her in the eyes he was wearing a sheepish grin. He sat, cross legged in front of her. Neither of them said anything for a while. Josie, trying to think of something comforting and drawing a blank. Rafael, trying to make the situation any less embarrassing and deciding humor wasn’t the way. Hope had told him to ask for help if he needed it. But he didn’t want to weigh anyone down. He reached up to rub the back of his neck, the grin falling from his face. He let out a big sigh, moving his hands to cover his face and drawing his knees to his chest.

“I could have hurt you,” he finally said, still covering his face.

“I know.” She couldn’t take how defeated and tired he looked. She reached out, gently pulling his hands away from his face. “But you didn’t.” Josie said back. Tears were making their way down his cheeks but he didn’t shy away from her touch.

“How did you know how to snap me out of it?” He asked looking at their joined hands. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her face, he didn’t want to see the pity that he knew was there.

“Hope told me about what Emma did after…” she didn’t need to continue, he didn’t need to think about that night right now. “Do you want to talk about it?” Rafael sighed again, changing his gaze to a spot on the floor while he tried to think of what to say. Josie waited patiently, knowing that it was best not to push him.

“Not really, but that’s more because I don’t remember what caused it. Just that I was scared,” he whispered.

“How often does this happen?” Josie asked gently.

“I don’t remember the last time I got a good night’s sleep,” Rafael said quietly.

“Oh Raf…“ Josie whispered back, not wanting to break the feeling of calm that had draped itself over the room. She moved her hands to his face, gently wiping away the tears. She could tell he was still out of it and wanted to do something to get his mind off of it. So after a moment of thinking about what she likes to do when she’s sad, she stood up, pulling him with her.

“What are you doing?” He asked carefully. Watching a grin break out on her face as she held a finger to her lips, motioning for him to keep quiet.

“It’s a surprise.“ Josie said quietly. “Come with me.”

She led him through the school and out into the crisp night air. She took him to the lake and then sat on the dock. It was then she noticed that in her rush to distract him that neither of them were wearing shoes. Her face began to heat as she thought of how she must’ve looked in her “save the bees” pajamas. She looked down at herself and tugged at the hem of her shorts, which seemed too short now, with a huff she dangled her legs in the water. Rafael sat next to her staring out at the water, still with his knees to his chest.

“I’m not sure that I know exactly what you’re going through…” she started, after the silence started to feel too heavy, “But I know that for me, having someone who will be there no matter what can help when I’m feeling scared.”

“Yeah. I get that. It was always Landon and I against the world… but now?” he said, not moving an inch. He thinks for a minute, trying to find the words that won’t make him sound lame

“Now he’s got Hope?” Josie asked quietly, looking over at him with understanding as he nods. “That doesn’t mean that you aren’t brothers, it just means that his world is getting bigger, yours has too, hasn’t it?” Rafael nods again, the sad look on his face shifting into confusion.

“How do you know?” He asked, letting his feet fall into the water, his gaze drawn to Josie as she started to laugh. A sound Rafael could listen to all night, he leaned back on his hands, letting a chuckle of his own escape.

“How do I know?” She asked once she was able to control her laughter. “Don’t you remember when you and Landon first got here? Lizzie and I were practically joined at the hip?”

“That all feels so long ago…” he said, smilingly fondly at the memory. Josie nodded in agreement.

The conversation continued until the sun was creeping into the sky and goosebumps worked their way across Josie’s body. She sighed, pulling her legs out of the water and stood up. Neither of them say anything but the silence is light, comfortable. Rafael yawned and stood as well. The same thought was on both of their minds. Get inside and back to their rooms before anyone notices their absence. And that’s just what they do. Rafael walks Josie to her door and just as she went to leave he gently grabbed her arm, turning her back to face him.

“I never said thanks for earlier.” Rafael was trying and failing, to read the look on her face. “So… uh… thank you, Josie.” He let go of her arm and not sure what else to do with his hands, he shoved them into the pockets of his pajama pants.

“It wasn’t a problem, Raf, I wasn’t going to just leave you there.” She said with a small smile. There was something else in her eyes. Not the pity Rafael expected, something different that he couldn’t find a name for.

“Okay, I’ll see you later then,” he mumbled, a lopsided grin breaking out on his face. She nodded and slipped back into her room. Rafael walked through the halls of the school that he was still getting to know, replaying the events of the night in his mind, a smile on his face. 

Thinking of the way Josie stayed with him until he was feeling better made his cheeks flame with a mixture of embarrassment and affection. Before Josie, he’d never had anyone besides Landon do that for him. He paused, remembering the time when Jed was trying to get him to submit to the pack. Josie had been there for him then as well. She always seemed to know exactly what to do to make him feel better. It was then that Rafael became determined to do something nice for her in return. He shook his head and continued on his way back to his room.  
Luckily, since it was so early, Rafael managed to make it back without seeing anyone. Less lucky, was that upon arrival to his room he saw the damage he had done to his bed and a ghostly pale Landon.

“Dude, where the hell were you?” Landon asked with anxiety clear on his face. “What the hell happened?”

“Sorry, Lan, I had a nightmare.” Rafael explained, closing the door and moving to sit on the end of his bed. “I’m not sure what happened really. Josie helped me wake up from it.” Rafael admitted, sheepish for the second time that day. At that, a look of relief washed over Landon as he moved to sit next to Rafael. “I’m really sorry I worried you, Lan. I’m alright though. Josie thought I would calm down better if I was outside. You weren’t here and we didn’t want to bother anyone.”

Rafael didn’t miss the hurt that flashed across Landon’s face when he said that but chose to instead acknowledge the look of understanding that followed. Landon helped him clean up the mess, not expecting any more of an explanation but happy that Josie had been there for his brother when he wasn’t. By the time the mess was cleared up and Rafael’s bed was made it was time to get ready for the day. The calm Rafael had felt while sitting on the dock with Josie was fading fast as the school came alive. Classes were going to be rough.


End file.
